Dozens killed, wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza tent camp, says Gaza agency
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Smoke rising following an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Sept 8.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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CAIRO – Israeli strikes ripped a huge crater, set tents ablaze and buried Palestinian families alive under sand in a safe zone in southern Gaza before dawn on Sept 10, killing or wounding scores of people, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel said it struck a command centre for Hamas fighters who it said infiltrated the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, a vast camp on sandy soil where the military has told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to shelter since ordering them out of their homes. Hamas denied any fighters were present.
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said it believed at least 65 people had been killed or wounded, but it could not provide a breakdown of the casualties because many people were buried and were still missing under the sand. Israel disputed the casualty figures.
Rescuers dug with shovels through the night, searching for bodies and survivors buried where the strike blasted a crater the size of a small football pitch.
Tents in the surrounding area were completely incinerated, leaving only their metal frames dusted with ghostly ash in a wasteland littered with debris. A car was completely buried, with just its top visible beneath the sand.
In the morning, mourners at a nearby hospital wailed over bodies heaped in white plastic bags or wrapped in bloodstained shrouds.
One of Mr Raed Abu Muammar’s daughters was killed. His wife and other daughter were buried, but pulled out alive. He carried the surviving baby girl.
“I was under the sand as well. I got out and started looking for my daughters and my wife. I saw body parts of the neighbours in my tent. I did not know those were our neighbours’ parts until I saw my family in one piece.”
“These are the Israeli targets. Look at them,” he said, gesturing to the baby girl in his arms. “We were in humanitarian areas that were supposed to be safe.”
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number of fatalities at more than 40. It said that at least 60 others were wounded in the strikes and many remained missing.
Residents and medics said the camp was struck by five or six missiles or bombs.
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said at least 20 tents caught fire. It said the estimated 65 victims included women and children, but did not immediately provide a breakdown of deaths and injuries.
There was no immediate comment from the Gaza Health Ministry, which compiles casualty figures. Earlier, the Hamas-aligned Shehab News Agency said 40 Palestinians were killed.
Palestinians looking at the destruction following Israeli air strikes on the Al-Mawasi camp that was supposed to be a safe zone.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
“Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre,” a Gaza civil emergency official said.
The Israeli military said it “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded in the humanitarian area in Khan Younis”.
“The terrorists advanced and carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel,” the statement said, referring to Israel Defence Forces.
Ms Ola al-Shaer, one of the survivors, told Reuters at the site that she was awakened by the violent blasts. She cried out to her children and fled into the night, surrounded by fire.
“We saw women cut in pieces, children cut in pieces and martyrs. There are still people missing. People are looking for them, and they still have not found them yet.”
Hamas, the Islamist group that controlled Gaza before the conflict, denied Israeli allegations of gunmen existing in the targeted area and rejected accusations that it exploited civilian areas for military purposes.
“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members existed within civilian gatherings or used these places for military purposes,” Hamas said in a statement.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times.
The war was triggered on Oct 7
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
The two warring sides each blame the other for the failure so far to reach a ceasefire that would end the fighting and see the release of hostages. REUTERS
